Leonard asked the City Council to consider a resolution that would put off any change until a new contract is negotiated in 2013. Under his plan, the city's Bureau of Human Resources would be directed to develop a physical fitness test for police before agreeing to pay a 1 percent premium health and fitness pay to officers in the next contract.

Leonard said the job of a police officer is mentally and emotionally very trying and physically demanding. He argued that it's in an officer's best interest to take a physical fitness test. He said his resolution is legal, and called Saltzman's plan to rescind pay already negotiated as illegal and likely to be overturned by any state arbitrator.

Saltzman said Leonard's proposal was not a bad idea, but he couldn't support it. Saltzman said he's opposed to paying any premiums for officers to keep fit.

"An individual's health is a personal responsiblity, and it's not a responsibility of taxpayers," Saltzman said. "I will not support any premium of this type in any contract."

The issue arose after The Oregonian reported that the city had scrapped a plan to give officers a physical fitness test modeled after the Oregon Physical Abilities Test given to recruits, and allowed for a biometric screening instead to qualify for the negotiated 1 percent health and fitness premium pay in the police union contract.

Ninety one percent, or 823 of the 900 members of the Portland Police Association got the extra pay the first year for simply showing up to get their finger pricked for blood, blood pressure taken and height and weight checked. The original plan was to have police take a timed obstacle and physical abilities test. Passing would earn the premium pay – 1 percent of top step officer salary, or $739.

The city scrapped the fitness test after the union balked about having to take the exams off-duty without receiving overtime. Yvonne Deckard, director of the city's Bureau of Human Resources, said the potential cost of paying officers overtime to take the fitness test would have been unacceptable. That's why the city moved to the biometric screening, which the union agreed to do off duty without overtime.

Mayor Sam Adams, who serves as police commissioner, said today, "Negotiations or implementation of the negotiations didn't go exactly as I had hoped."

The council voted 4 to 1 to approve Leonard's resolution. Saltzman objected.

While Commissioner Amanda Fritz said she shares some of Saltzman's concerns, she said she believes that providing officers incentives to reduce their health insurance costs is better for taxpayers.

"If the union believes as much as we do in wellness, we wouldn't have to pay them overtime to take a physical fitness test," Saltzman said.

He promised to draft future resolutions that would provide for greater oversight of the contract negotiations. Saltzman wants to require notetakers at all contract talks to provide an "accurate record" and greater involvement of the council and city attorney's office in crafting city bargaining agreements.

Portland Copwatch's Dan Handelman was the lone person to testify before the council today on the subject.

"Not enough attention was paid to the contract at the time it was adopted,'' Handelman said, adding that it's costing taxpayers.